Asia

Taiwan. Taiwan has dealt with the same problem as Singapore. The people love to go out for dinner and the restaurants had disposable dishes. The government even encouraged using plastic dishes during the 1990’s. Around 2002 the government was no longer able to recycle all the plastic that the people were using. So they started a campaign against plastic. They banned the free distribution of disposable plastic bags and tableware  throughout the whole country.

And it worked! Compared to March 2002, in March 2003, Taiwan saw an increase of people bringing their own bags to the store of 60 percent. The use of plastic bags had thereby declined by more than 80 percent and the use of plastic tableware by 96 percent.

taiwan plastic food
Soup in a plastic bag in Taiwan

 

Philippines. In the Philippines Senator Lorden Legarda proposed the Total Plastic Bag Ban Act of 2011 (TPBA 2011). Thus he tried to eliminate any kind of all plastic bags in Metro Manila. Today nearly all cities that are part of Metro Manila have actively followed the act. Only two cities do not wish to participate. The act states that most of the drainage systems and waterways are clogged with plastic, mainly the non-biodegradable form of plastic. The Senator wants to prohibit further use of non-biodegradable plastic bags. Establishments that wish to continue using these kinds of plastic bags, will be fined accordingly. Sections 3 and 4 state the establishments and penalties as mentioned in the TPBA 2011.

Sec. 3. Prohibition. – Groceries, supermarkets, public markets, restaurants, fast food chains, department stores, retail stores and other similar establishments are hereby
prohibited from using non-biodegradable plastic bags.

All aforementioned establishments shall only provide recyclable paper bags and/ or biodegradable plastic bags to its customers.

Sec. 4. Penalties. – Establishments caught using non-biodegradable plastic bags shall be
penalized as follows:

  • First Offence             :    A fine of ten thousand pesos
  • Second Offence       :    A fine of fifty thousand pesos
  • Third Offence          :    A fine of two hundred thousand pesos  and the suspension of their Business for a period of a year.